Senate team to decide Waiguru’s fate Thursday

Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka has scheduled a special meeting of the Senate Business Committee Thursday afternoon to decide the fate of Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru who was impeached on Tuesday.

Mr Lusaka made the announcement as the governor, for the second time in three months, made an attempt to have the courts protect her from the claws of MCAs who are thirsty to get her out of office she has occupied since 2017.

Mr Lusaka summoned the HBC – a committee that schedules Senate business – after he received the communication from Kirinyaga County Assembly Speaker Anthony Gathumbi informing of the resolution of the motion on the impeachment of the governor.

Among the documents that were transmitted to the Senate are the Hansard report of the proceedings during the impeachment, evidence of the allegations used to support the impeachment motion and the list of the MCAs who voted and the respective charges.

At a media briefing in his office, Mr Lusaka said: “I have received the notification from Kirinyaga County Assembly and I have summoned a special session of the HBC today afternoon to discuss the way forward,” Mr Lusaka said.

“I want to assure Kenyans that Senate is a House of integrity and shall serve justice to both the assembly and the governor without fear or favour,” he added.

The Speaker said he will communicate the MCAs’ resolution to the House on Tuesday next week.

While the MCAs were busy with the motion, Ms Waiguru’s lawyers moved to the High Court seeking to shield her from the ouster.

She was hanging on the initial order by Justice Weldon Korir in which he ordered the MCAs to hold their horses in regard to the impeachment process during this Covid-19 pandemic. In a fresh suit, Ms Waiguru asked the court to suspend Tuesday’s resolution passed or made with regards to her impeachment.

She also wants the court to declare that proceedings commenced by the assembly while ignoring the April 7 temporary reprieve order by Justice Korir as null and void.

Observers reckon that Waiguru’s support for the handshake between President Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga has seen marked changes in how she has been conducting her politics. A senator who spoke to the Nation yesterday said the Odinga-Waiguru friendship was strategic and futuristic, but one that is also driven by “politics of survival”.

Reporting by Ibrahim Oruko, Maureen Kakah and Kenneth Kimanthi